SAT OwlQuestion bank / Cross-Text Connections
Text 1: Many people follow the "five-second rule," the belief that food dropped on the floor is safe to eat if it is picked up within five seconds. The idea is that bacteria need time to move from the floor onto the food.
Text 2: Food scientists tested the rule by dropping foods such as watermelon, bread, and gummy candy onto surfaces coated with bacteria. Some bacteria moved onto the food in less than one second, and moist foods picked them up fastest. Longer contact usually meant more bacteria, but no amount of time was short enough to keep the food free of them.
Based on the texts, how would the food scientists in Text 2 most likely respond to the belief described in Text 1?
They would argue that food left on the floor for more than five seconds picks up fewer bacteria.
They would agree that food picked up within five seconds is free of bacteria.
They would argue that bacteria can reach dropped food so quickly that picking it up within five seconds does not make it safe.
They would claim that only dry foods pick up bacteria from the floor.
Show answer and explanation
Answer: C
Text 1's belief rests on the idea that bacteria need time to reach the food. Text 2 found that bacteria transferred in less than a second and that no contact time was short enough. The scientists would say the five-second limit offers no real protection, choice C.
Choice A reverses Text 2's finding that longer contact usually meant more bacteria, not fewer.
Why the other choices are wrong
- A. This choice reverses the finding that longer contact usually meant more bacteria, not fewer.
- B. The texts state that no amount of time was short enough to keep food free of bacteria.
- D. The texts indicate that moist foods picked up bacteria fastest, so dry foods are not the only ones affected.
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